capacitor

noun

ca·​pac·​i·​tor kə-ˈpa-sə-tər How to pronounce capacitor (audio)
: a device that is used to store electrical energy

Examples of capacitor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The capacitor in the pressure washer can overheat and burst, potentially ejecting parts and posing a serious injury risk to the user or bystanders due to impact, according to the post. Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025 Upgrade to advanced, energy-efficient equipment like capacitor films that can handle higher loads and extreme conditions. Shaun Walsh, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025 The importance of load independence Traditional WPT systems need inductors and capacitors to have precise component values in a bid to achieve stable operation. Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2025 If the Back to the Future cast had a flux capacitor on hand when Robert Zemeckis' genre-bending adventure premiered on July 3, 1985, they might have been shocked that, four decades later, no other time-travel movie would come close to its impact. Jonathon Dornbush, EW.com, 3 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for capacitor

Word History

First Known Use

1925, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of capacitor was in 1925

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Cite this Entry

“Capacitor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capacitor. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

capacitor

noun
ca·​pac·​i·​tor kə-ˈpas-ət-ər How to pronounce capacitor (audio)
: a device for storing electric charge

called also condenser

Medical Definition

capacitor

noun
ca·​pac·​i·​tor kə-ˈpas-ət-ər How to pronounce capacitor (audio)
: a device giving capacitance and usually consisting of conducting plates or foils separated by thin layers of dielectric (as air or mica) with the plates on opposite sides of the dielectric layers oppositely charged by a source of voltage and the electrical energy of the charged system stored in the polarized dielectric

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